A Record Breaker

Today we tie 1925 as having the most 100+ degree days in a calendar year. We are poised to blow that record out of the water.
The sky most days is a relentless, empty, terrifying shade of blue. What animals that have survived the drought thus far act strangely. Squirrels drape themselves along tree branches like miniature fur rugs, too beaten down by the heat to run from our barking terrier. Huge wolf spiders show up in our kitchen, at our entry way, in broad daylight, given up on their own safety and smacked to the hereafter with my shoe.

I hear there is in rain in heaven.

The tomato plants quit early this year. The temperatures stopped dropping down enough at night for them to continue to produce.


This drought and unyielding heat bring to the forefront of my mind how we are just animals too. Fortunate animals that have figured out air conditioning and water treatment facilities and indoor playgrounds, but tied to the rhythms and whims of nature nonetheless. I find myself thinking that everything would be ok, all of my problems would be solved if it would just rain.


The memory of water stains the dehydrated gutters as the heat, once an abstraction but now a living thing, shimmers off the pavement. I feel a little desperate in the afternoons. You can burn yourself getting into your car. Many people have died from heat exposure. Things are so much worse in Africa. I think about those people a lot these days.

I feel a little desperate when I see the weather forecast on the news at night. I keep thinking, "Surely, next week will bring relief." But it never does. How long can this go on?

There is an event tonight at the ballpark to have the largest rain dance in Guiness book history. I sense God laughing.

Owls

I was hold Ben and reading my blog roll the other day when we came across this tutorial on how to make a little stuffed owl. He shouted "Owl! Owl! Hoo hoo!". (Thank you Mr. Brown Can Moo) I thought, "awesome, something I can make for him he will actually like.
Then I got really ambitious. He's too young to sew or anything, but he loves stickers. So I used some felt and made him a mini felt board owl activity thing.
As you can see, Ben is an abstract expressionist. He also actually pronounces owl "owl-le", like it has a little Spanish flair to it. I was hoping this was another Super Mom moment, but his interest in the owl-le stickers was not nearly long enough for me to sew an owl. This cartoon sums up all of my attempts at toddler art in a hilarious nutshell.

My own owl-le came out over-exposed and lumpy, which is what happens when you try to sew or photograph while entertaining a toddler. One day I will learn...one day.

Crunchy Play Clay

Between a bout of stomach bug and extreme temperatures, we've been imprisoned in the house for what feels like years. I've been trying to fight the cabin fever with some creative play activities. The biggest success by far was an afternoon spent with homemade play dough and all the fixin's. It was inspired by this post over over at An Amazing Child.

*blurry with excitement*

The only modification I made to the dough recipe was to add about 20 drops of yellow food coloring at B's request. The color is not awesome, but he didn't seem to care.
We made the dough together, me scooping the ingredients and him dumping them in and stirring the dry mixture. The downside is that it needs some time on the stove and is too hot to play with for a while. That's the tough part, managing an excited toddler and hot goop. But the entertainment-to-hassle ratio was high on the entertainment side for both of us.
This is a great multi-sensory, open-ended play activity that he was very happy to explore independently.
Best of all, it granted me 20 minutes to clean the kitchen unmolested by tiny hands trying to help. And that, dear friends, made me feel like I earned a badge for my SuperMom cape.

Wedding Season pt. 2

 My friend asked me to make her a set of keep and toss garters for her wedding this fall. I was a bit nervous making them, but after a little trial and error, I think they turned out nicely.

The ribbon is the same as on the ring bearer pillow and matches the bride's maids color scheme. The center bling-y bits are actually buttons.

I googled "wedding garter tutorial" and found lots of tutorials. I had already bought the materials, so I didn't follow any one specific guide but it was handy to get some ideas about techniques and measurements. I heat sealed the edges of the ribbons so they wouldn't fray.

And, of course, a little tiny something blue! Making these turned out to be a lot of fun! I originally was going to make my own garter for my wedding, but then we decided not to include a garter toss. I still have a tiny skein of white silk in my stash...not really enough to make one anyway, but I was a newbie knitter with big dreams. :)
Have a great weekend and stay cool out there!

Boots!

The boot fairy has heard my cries and bestowed upon me a fabulous pair of Frye Harness boots. It's amazing what happens when you whine incessantly for months ask nicely. The boot-to-lanesplitter shirt ratio is a bit off, so I think I'm going to hem it up to show more of my leg than just my old man knees. The boots make me bold. (which is also why I clearly couldn't be bothered to get my husband's sandals out of the shot) I wish I could get paid in boots.

Lanesplitter

Pattern: Lanesplitter
Yarn: Noro Taiyo color 6 (discontinued)
Needles: size 9

I have to say, I had my doubts about this project. I tried to knit a skirt in the past and was met with FTCO syndrome (Failure To Cast On) so now I have lots and lots or brown yarn to contend with. I digress. This pattern was simple to make and the results are striking. That's my favorite kind of pattern to make!
I was worried that the seam would be unsightly, but I think the colors lined up reasonably well. Instead of picking up and knitting the waistband, I used the lining instructions from So Knit Picky and it made the project go even faster. The skirt is extremely comfortable...I can't wait for cooler weather so I can wear it. Perhaps with these Frye Boots? Dear boot fairy, I am a size 9.

Also, I do plan on fixing my blog header relatively soon. The empty wagon is not some sort of existential statement. Something is wrong with my eyes and staring intently at a screen only makes things worse. I am getting myself to a doctor soon though, so no worries.

Pickles Two Ways

Happy first official day of summer! I find this day rather hilarious because we have already broken several triple digit records and it feels more like late August than mid-June. But what better way to beat the heat than to make some cold, crunchy pickles? You barely even have to turn on your oven for these babies and they're ready in a couple of hours.

Adapted from Alton Brown

Regular Not Too Sweet Bread n' Butter Pickles

You will need:

2 medium cucumbers
1/2 an onion
1 cup of water
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups of sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon of celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon of pickling spice

Thinly slice the cucumbers and onions. Stuff them into a glass jar with a tightly closing lid. In a saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer 4-5 minutes. Pour the pickling juice into the jar full of cucumbers and onions. After a couple of minutes, top of the jar with the remaining juice in your pan. Let it sit out on the counter until it reaches room temperature. (Thankfully, it's boiling hot here, so it came off the stove at "room temperature") Seal the jar and stick it in the fridge until cold. Volia!

Sweet n' Spicy Pickled Goodies
Follow the directions as above, but use 1 cucumber, a little less onion, 4 banana peppers, two jalapenos and a couple of dashes of red pepper in the jar. (slice the banana peppers and jalapenos). Make the pickling juice as above. The spiciness level is easy to adjust. Also, it's easy to make a spicy and non-spicy version at the same time, just double the amount of pickling juice, stick whatever combination of cucumbers and peppers in your jars and go to town! I kind of want to pickle everything now. :)

If your kids are old enough, they can get involved filling the jars with their own vegetables and helping to measure the spices. It's good to make a few jars at once...they are highly addicting!

Happy Summer!